Enforced disappearances Chile

Numbers and Context

UNWGEID Cases

840 cases reported, 24 clarified, and 816 outstanding.

NGOs Numbers

Over 3.000 according to the National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation

Context

Enforced disappearances were used as a repressive measure during Augusto Pinochet's military Government. Most disappearances happened in between 1973 and 1976. The majority of cases reported to the UNGWEID during this period. Almost all victims belonged to Chilean left-wing parties.
The National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation, Also known as ‘The Rettig Commission' investigated killings and disappearances during 16 and a half years of military dictatorship. Of the documented 3,428 disappearances, killings, torture that led to death, and kidnappings, 2,920 were investigated in depth.
In 1998, 10 years after he was theoretically removed from power in the 1988 elections against the opposition coalition 'NO', Agusto Pinochet is arrested in London at the request of Spanish authorities. This arrest is a development without precedent in the fight against impunity. The procedure which followed in British courts contributed significantly to the development of the concepts of universal jurisdiction and immunity.

Federations and Organisations

Federation

Federación Latinoamericana de Asociaciones de Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos (FEDEFAM)